According to the Boston Consulting Group’s 2012 report, ‘The
Connected World’, the Internet economy's contribution to the UK GDP is at
8.3 per cent, higher than any other G20 nations. The report forecasts that this
share will surge to 12.4 per cent by 2016.
By then, almost a quarter of sales in the UK are expected to
take place online - more than double the percentage of the projected closest
competitor, Germany. In early 2010 there
were 200 technology companies based in east London, by January this year this
had exploded to 1300.
High return global
races
Great
results for the UK and whilst they are reported as best in class this is
not just a London or GB based phenomenon. The creation of technology based
innovative digital businesses is a global race that corporations, governments,
investors, incubators and entrepreneurs are all placing their bets on. With projected annual growth rates of 8 per cent
for the next five years, these are some serious numbers.
Picking the right
wave
With all this happening it could be argued that there isn't
a better time to be a start-up to ride the wave as if you need help it’s out
there. The challenge for the
entrepreneur with this all this activity is picking the right set and most
appropriate support to ride it from. This isn't easy as even the support
networks are becoming global.
Getting the fundamentals
right
The Internet economy is a global game with highly
competitive rules, but it comes down to doing all the fundamentals brilliantly
and getting the right support in the right place at the right time. The winners
will be those that view the Internet as a compliment to, not a cannibal of traditional
ways of competing.
